Sean Rassel, Brighton junior, makes the leap for the Britons in the 110 meter hurdles. Rassel also runs the 400 meter hurdles for Albion.

Holdren runs the 4X400. Albion completed the relay in 4:22.45, finishing fourth at the MIAA Jamboree.

Two is better than one, and Albion had two third place finishes at the MIAA Jamboree over the weekend. Both the men and women’s track teams took third, with only MIAA powerhouses Calvin and Hope placing ahead of the Britons.

“As a team, we wanted to be third, solidly in front of Alma, and we accomplished this with some great efforts,” said Erin Holdren, Portland senior.

Holdren represented the Lady Brits in the 4X400-meter relay that finished fourth.

Joining Holdren was Autumn Charnley, Richland Township junior; Stephanie Klumpp, Wyoming senior; and Dana Koenig, Midland first-year.

“We are particularly strong in the distance events this year,” said Megan Fitzpatrick, Marshall senior. “We have a number of experienced upperclassmen and some excellent young runners scoring points for us.”

Fitzpatrick was Albion’s top performer at the jamboree. Having never ran the 10,000-meter and 5,000-meter event in the same meet, Fitzpatrick came in second in the 10,000-meter and finished fifth in the 5,000-meter.

“Definitely Megan Fitzpatrick running with the top Calvin women [was the best moment],” Holdren said. “She passed them at one point during the race and it forced the better Calvin girl to leave the teammate she was pacing. Some people may think that there is no strategy in a 10k, but Megan proved them wrong. Then she came back to run an amazing 5k.”

Other top performances for the women came from JQ Williams, Plymouth senior, who placed second in the pole vault.

Also taking a second place ribbon was Katie Spencer in discus.

Women’s track and field will continue its non-league schedule until the MIAA Championships on May 1 and 2.

“I think that all of us still have better times to come so that is what I am looking forward to,” Holdren said.

The men also look forward to the league championships after its performance at the MIAA Jamboree.

“The MIAA Championship will be a challenge: Calvin and Hope have a greater depth than we do, so we will have to be ready to compete to the best of our ability and out-compete their runners,” said Ben Alger, Grass Lake first-year.

Much of the Britons’ depth comes in the field events.

Dave Diemert, Roscommon senior, won the javelin. Diemert had a first place throw of 152 feet.

Also taking first place was Evan Walters, Lainsburg senior, who won the shot put event, after he threw the shot 49 feet 4 ½ inches. Walters also took second in the discus throw.

Chaudhry runs at the Marv Frye Invitational. Albion competed against Ohio Wesleyan University on April 5. The Britons will continue competing in non-league meets until the MIAA Championships on May 1 and May 2.

“To win shot put in the conditions that we had to deal with on Saturday is something that I feel good about because if I can compete that well in terrible weather, then in May when we have the league meet I will have more confidence,” Walters said. “As far as discus, I was extremely happy. I do not focus on discus very much in practice so to take second was something that I didn’t expect.”

Like Walters, Ahmed Chaudhry, Ann Arbor junior, placed in multiple events. Chaudhry was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles, eighth in the 110-meter hurdles and seventh in the long jump.

Chaudhry helped the Britons collect 601 ½ points, finishing ahead of Alma, Tri-State, Adrian and Olivet, respectively.

The MIAA jamboree is worth half of the overall determination of the MIAA champion.

Both the men and women’s track and field teams will compete at non-league meets until the MIAA championships.